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Profiles in Science
New Elements: The Story of Marie Curie
A young adult biography of physicist and chemist Marie Curie
- GenresNonfiction
144 pages, Library Binding
First published November 30, 2006
1 person is currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Della A. Yannuzzi
9 books1 followerDella Yannuzzi's dreams for children are a lot like her own life--don't get discouraged, you can achieve whatever you want. Della's optimistic, never-give-up personality has brought her far in her writing career. In talking with her, right away one can see the twinkle in her eye that spells love for what she does--write every day, set goals, research the markets and send out proposals over and over again. "Eventually, if you really love it and you persevere, you will publish," is her advice to anyone who dreams of a career as a writer.
Della began writing for the adult market, trying out different genres and submitting stories and articles to local publications and mainstream magazine markets. At the same time, she finished her degree and began teaching in early childhood education. After selling many stories and articles a nice break came, as she describes it--her first publication in Highlights for Children. The article, "A Visit to Old Quebec," in 1975, was followed by a feature in Highlights on Native American Susette La Flesch, which Della then turned into a book. While that book didn't sell, she persisted, selling stories to Cobblestone, Young World, New Moon and other magazines. Writing for children had now become her greatest love, especially non-fiction and biographies.
When asked how she decided to pursue biographies, Della points out that most of her work began with articles and stories. In 1990, her story on Native American Olympic runner Billy Mills was published in Highlights for Children and received the Highlights Sports Feature of the Year award. Della proceeded to turn the Billy Mills story into a book and this time, a rejection slip from the publisher was accompanied by a winning idea--write the biography of Native American Wilma Mankiller. Della took up the challenge and published her first biography, Wilma Mankiller-Leader of the Cherokee Nation.
Biographies intrigue her, as she enjoys studying people's lives to understand how they accomplish what they have done, especially under adverse conditions. She sometimes relates their lives to her own--by looking at how they reached their goals and comparing her own progress. "They are role models for me," she says. Della believes strongly that if the people she writes about affect her in that way, children should feel the same challenge from reading her biographies. "I want children to pick up my books and get the message that it's possible to overcome obstacles, to keep trying."
To start a biography, she looks first for people who have overcome great odds to succeed, generally selecting from publishers' suggested lists. She does extensive research to be sure there is enough information available, by searching library collections, the Internet and pursuing interviews. With the personal decision made, she writes an outline, drafts a first chapter and sends these off for consideration.
Della is a "multi-tasker," able to keep many things going at once. She describes her work as a balanced day, mixing up her writing with research, market analysis, and exploring new ideas. She has multiple book or story projects going at once, and when a contract comes through, settles into that single project to meet deadlines.
Della began writing for the adult market, trying out different genres and submitting stories and articles to local publications and mainstream magazine markets. At the same time, she finished her degree and began teaching in early childhood education. After selling many stories and articles a nice break came, as she describes it--her first publication in Highlights for Children. The article, "A Visit to Old Quebec," in 1975, was followed by a feature in Highlights on Native American Susette La Flesch, which Della then turned into a book. While that book didn't sell, she persisted, selling stories to Cobblestone, Young World, New Moon and other magazines. Writing for children had now become her greatest love, especially non-fiction and biographies.
When asked how she decided to pursue biographies, Della points out that most of her work began with articles and stories. In 1990, her story on Native American Olympic runner Billy Mills was published in Highlights for Children and received the Highlights Sports Feature of the Year award. Della proceeded to turn the Billy Mills story into a book and this time, a rejection slip from the publisher was accompanied by a winning idea--write the biography of Native American Wilma Mankiller. Della took up the challenge and published her first biography, Wilma Mankiller-Leader of the Cherokee Nation.
Biographies intrigue her, as she enjoys studying people's lives to understand how they accomplish what they have done, especially under adverse conditions. She sometimes relates their lives to her own--by looking at how they reached their goals and comparing her own progress. "They are role models for me," she says. Della believes strongly that if the people she writes about affect her in that way, children should feel the same challenge from reading her biographies. "I want children to pick up my books and get the message that it's possible to overcome obstacles, to keep trying."
To start a biography, she looks first for people who have overcome great odds to succeed, generally selecting from publishers' suggested lists. She does extensive research to be sure there is enough information available, by searching library collections, the Internet and pursuing interviews. With the personal decision made, she writes an outline, drafts a first chapter and sends these off for consideration.
Della is a "multi-tasker," able to keep many things going at once. She describes her work as a balanced day, mixing up her writing with research, market analysis, and exploring new ideas. She has multiple book or story projects going at once, and when a contract comes through, settles into that single project to meet deadlines.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 16, 2021
Writing: 3 stars
Story: 5 stars
Story: 5 stars
April 20, 2015
Marie was always taught that education had a great value and that was one thing that she strived to achieve through a big part of her life. She always wanted an education and in the end she got it. Through out her whole life Marie was very determined in achieving all the goals she set out for herself. Marie was determined, selfless, and courageous.
June 1, 2012
The book new elements Marie Curie by Della Yannuzzi is a biography telling about the story and accomplishments of Marie Curie, the famous Polish scientist. It starts by tell about Marie's, or Manya's, early life growing up before she became a successful scientist. "Manya's siblings were intelligent too, but they had to work a little harder at their studies"(Yannuzzi, 11). It tells about how as a young kid, Marie was very smart and had a lot of potential. It goes on to talk about her struggles trying to get a good education in the science field as a woman. When Marie got older she started a new life in Paris where she attended La Sorbonne. "At the time Marie registered in 1891, La Sorbonne had some two thousand students enrolled in its School of Sciences. Of these, only twenty-three were women"(Yannuzzi, 38). Marie got married to Pierre Curie in 1895. They attended La Sorbonne together and Marie got pregnant with her first child. "In 1898 Marie named the phenomenon radioactivity, from the Latin radius, meaning ray"(Yannuzzi, 64). Marie had clarified radioactivity. Marie and Pierre used this information to continue research and experimenting that led them to an incredible discovery. On April 19, 1906 tragedy struck having a negative affect on Marie. With her determination she went on to research with radioactivity and worked as director of the Curie Laboratory.
As far as biography's go I thought this book was actually pretty interesting and helpful. I found it easy to understand and I felt it was organized in a way so that events and other information were put together well. I thought it was really helpful how at the end of the book there was a time line, a list of websites, and an index. If you are looking to find out more about Marie Curie this book would be good choice because it was very informative but I didn't find it to be too overwhelming.
I would probably give this book a 3 because it was good for a biography on Marie Curie, and the information it contained was useful to me, but the book was quite boring. Also it was kind of short which I found to be a good thing because it didn't feel like I was reading a huge novel telling me completely irrelevant facts about Marie Curie. I learned a lot from it and it was for the most part things that were easy to remember. I would definitely recommend this book for a source when doing a school project or research paper.
As far as biography's go I thought this book was actually pretty interesting and helpful. I found it easy to understand and I felt it was organized in a way so that events and other information were put together well. I thought it was really helpful how at the end of the book there was a time line, a list of websites, and an index. If you are looking to find out more about Marie Curie this book would be good choice because it was very informative but I didn't find it to be too overwhelming.
I would probably give this book a 3 because it was good for a biography on Marie Curie, and the information it contained was useful to me, but the book was quite boring. Also it was kind of short which I found to be a good thing because it didn't feel like I was reading a huge novel telling me completely irrelevant facts about Marie Curie. I learned a lot from it and it was for the most part things that were easy to remember. I would definitely recommend this book for a source when doing a school project or research paper.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews